For This Moment in Time
by unknown21af
Summary: One-Shot. Following the knowledge of his son's reaping, Reese Ogden and his wife, Iris, have a moment to themselves after the initial horror and devastation of losing their beloved teen-aged son. For this moment in time will only prove their true commitment to each other and their family.


_**mom,**_

_**went to the square. see you after the reaping. **_

_**-lon**_

* * *

The note written by my son lays on the dirty kitchen table. Blue inks runs from the scribbled letters where teardrops have fallen over his words. The last words I will ever see written by him.

Just one hour, Leonardo was drawn for the 71st annual Hunger Games. Seventeen years and already a soldier for the unjust war for the corrupt Capitol's pleasure. Five minutes I had to say goodbye to him. Five minutes can never make up for the seventeen years I had never told him how much I truly loved him. Five minutes and I would already have to begin planning his funeral. There will never be enough of a chance that Leonardo will return home to me and his mother.

He wrote the final note addressed to his mother, but not to me, because I was not supposed to be home until after work. At the moment someone informed me that he had been drawn, I left for the justice building without even informing my boss. I could easily be fired for leaving my saw plugged into the electrical outlet back at the mill, which is in his eyes "a massive liability and danger to everyone around you," but there will not be any consequence great enough that leaves me with regret for leaving. I had to be there with my son, my own flesh and blood, to say goodbye.

Dust still floats around the quiet room. Debris and other garbage lays on the floor of our one floor home. This room, the dining room, contains nothing more than the bare essentials: table, chairs, and is attached to the even smaller kitchen and living room. Our entire life is in one connected space, the hallway leading to bedrooms and the single bathroom not much further than the living room.

"Leonardo Ogden, tribute to the Hunger Games," I whisper to my wife, who tightly wraps her arms around my abdomen behind me. She remains strong, not letting her emotions affect her behavior. I gaze across the room, everything thrown out of plumb or place. Papers litter the floor, shattered mugs and glasses occupy the space always organized and clean, but now left devastated.

In a fury, I threw everything in sight against the walls. Everything was fair game. Work papers, kitchen utensils, the vase of flowers I brought home two night ago to surprise Iris. Lon commented on how the vibrant colors reminded him of his mother, my wife, Iris. She wept when she saw them, asking how much I had to pay to get them and the lovely vase, too. All that remained was his letter. His written words stopped me, they helped me understand the horror I was only bringing to my family now.

Iris continue to latch onto me, swaying the both of us slowly like she is consoling a colicky baby. For once, she is the one not shedding tears. She is the one promising security and safety to me.

She does not intrude with words. No questions asked. She did not stop me from breaking every possession that laid on the table. Iris allowed me to vent when I know she desperately wanted to do the same. Even through the money struggles we have suffered as a family this past decade, not one moment did she stop me from finally letting it all out.

"I'm not going to stop you," she told me. "Not one moment. You needed this." She was right. I needed to let go. But I cannot let go.

"Leonardo..." I whimper, still swaying.

"He will be okay, hun. He's not just a boy anymore. I think he will do just fine."

I turn to face Iris. The burning under my eyes is still present from the constant wiping of tears from my eyes.

"He is just a boy. He is my boy. I do not want to lose my son."

"And he is my son, too. We love him, and we have faith in him. He is smart enough to overcome those Games."

I shake my head, the tears threatening to return. "Is it too much to ask for him to stay home and be safe?"

Iris lays her head into my chest. She shakes her head too, and then wraps her arms around me again. We continue to sway, our energies and rhythms becoming one. As cliche as it sounds, there is a feeling of suffocation as we continue to embrace from the pain of losing my son. Nothing else can compare to the loss of someone as close to you as he was to me.

"All that matters now is that we still love him. He will always be our son, no matter what the outcome is. And we are still a family, you and I."

There is an odd sense of disappointment in the air. I am disappointed in myself, for believing I have not connected with Lon in all of the time we have had spent together. Iris is likely disappointed in me for breaking everything we own in this room, almost. The only things left intact are, of course, the table and chairs. The essentials.

My silence tells her a thousand words. "I still love you, Reese. Forever and always. The same way I did when I first met you, when I first kissed you, when we got married, and as I do today, right now and in this exact moment."

I look at her, and then she kisses me on the cheek once. I catch a brief smell of her perfume, something with an overtone of sweet honey and with undertones of musk and cinnamon. Her black, curly hair is let loose down to her shoulders, and her radiant bronze skin shows signs of concern over my well-being. She is a paragon of the word beautiful, even though beautiful already has a hundred different personifications.

"And I love you. But I love Leonardo, as well. I want him back, and I want him to be here with us, in this moment."

"He is always with us. He is always in our hearts, no matter what will happen to him in the arena. We have to wait, hope, and keep him in our thoughts and he will keep us in his. Leonardo has a chance to win, I promise you."

No one from District 7 ever wins, but Lon could always be the first. I have told myself this the second I learned he had been reaped. His partner, a young porcelain skinned girl from the other side of town by the name of Johanna, will be his only ally in that arena, but I pray that he will not let her be his crutch in there. She will likely use him as a crutch, because she was seen weeping before being led into the justice building alone.

I kiss Iris back on her cheek. She says nothing, and then we look into each other's eyes. For a second, I see a glimmer of hope in her eyes. Hope for the best in our future. Hope that we can stay united through this difficult time.

I reciprocate the same affections for hope. For this moment in time, I do not fear the loss of our family, but rather invite the bond that will only be strengthened between us for the time being. For this moment in time, I want Leonardo to return home the same man he always had been: strong, capable, and self-assured. For this moment in time, I have faith we will only make it through together and not alone, as a family.

And for this moment in time, I hate the Capitol and the Hunger Games with intensity I have never felt towards anyone or anything in my entire life. They have tried to break us apart, but they will not prevail. This family will remain the same we have always been, except with the ability to withstand the greatest trials.


End file.
